What is a Western Conference (Great Western) STAC?

By Ken Monzingo, Managing Editor

WC Sectional Tournament at Clubs - What does it mean?

About seventeen years ago we were discussing holding a “Western Conference” regional. The object was to raise some money for the financially strapped conference. Trouble was, among other objections, we would be competing with ourselves as districts. There are just so many tables of bridge available, and the three Western Conference districts are saturated with four regionals each, plus some exquoto exceptions. At the time the newest thing on the scene was something called a STAC - Sectional Tournament at Clubs. Each district could have one. Each was doing well. Do not know where the idea came from but seems to be an ACBL brainstorm to collect more sanctions fees.

The ACBL takes a huge cut of every table of league bridge everywhere; clubs, parties, sectionals, regionals, and STACs. A STAC is a sectional tournament played simultaneously in clubs throughout a city, district, or now conference, instead of in a single location. The theory here is to promote club attendance by offering silver points and inflated masterpoint awards while playing in your home club comfort.

A good idea. Works well.

Since we were without our own tournament to raise needed funds for the conference, I suggested we try a “Western Conference” STAC, held across the four districts of the conference - D17, D20, D21, & D22. As did Bob Bratcher. That should increase attendance in our clubs and afford some terrific masterpoint payoffs for players. Clubs could raise their entries by $1.00 and we could charge a WC table sanction fee to help us out of our depression. A win-win-win solution. But it got shot down.
Along came Michael Jones of San Francisco, then the new District Director for D21 and, as such, a new Western Conference board member. Immediately after his first annual WC board meeting Michael, now deceased, asked me in private how we could raise some funds. I told him I had been rejected (scoffed at) about a WC STAC. He simply asked, “Why?” I shrugged, he made one phone call to Memphis (the league), came back and asked how I felt about mid December for a WC STAC.

That Michael. As they say, “The rest is history.”

For the past ten Decembers that winter STAC has averaged 7500 tables annually - give or take a few hundred - to become easily the largest sectional tournament in the country, and the beginning of survival stages of the conference. The 2005 had 8,300 tables!

Clubs throughout the conference have reaped great benefits from increased attendance during the normally slow pre-Christmas week, and players have been absolutely showered in those silver points, some times winning more than 18 points in a simple club game.

In the past decade we've changed a few things. Most importantly, we have added two more WC STACs to the annual western tournament schedule. One in the spring - The Great Western Spring STAC, and a four-day Swiss Teams STAC in the summer. To do this the three member districts have surrendered their annual STACs and made it one Western Conference affair with several associate districts joining us. The STAC results with hand records are now available nightly during the STACs. You can see these results on ContractBridgeForum.com by clicking on the STAC logo.

Betty & Bob Bratcher, our STAC directors since inception, have done a marvelous job in creating harmony and good will with all the clubs throughout the western US as they tirelessly get them signed up for the huge tournaments, and record the results.

Good business.

All three are doing very well and between the three more than 300 clubs participate and more than 18,000 tables are in play! In the 2005 Spring STAC more than 14,000 different players participated. An amazing success - topped only by the December STAC, with 16,000 players.

"This is the greatest thing to happen to bridge since the masterpoint," says WC president John Van Ness, "We are introducing many people to tournament bridge for the first time in their life."

As for the annual December Holiday STAC, like the Spring STAC we have added several outlying associate districts (D14, D15, D18, and D23) to join us, creating even more tables and more silver points.

Win-win-win

All positive, huh? Well, mostly, maybe not all. Instead of win-win- win (conference-club-player) it should be noted as win-win-win-WIN.

The last win being the ACBL. Although we do all the work in organizing the STAC, publicizing the STAC, managing the STAC and reporting the STAC, the league is the real winner. They take an astounding 47% of the profits in sanction fees.

Boy, did we reap them a bounty of bucks by adding the WC STAC(s).

Maybe Michael coerced them into giving us the tournament, but they sure do not mind helping themselves to the profit. Bet they wouldn’t take it back.

Side Bar

This newspaper is funded in a variety of ways: (1) advertising (both tournaments and travel ads); (2) each district pays a per-page-used stipend; (3) each regional tournament pays a table sanction fee; and lastly, (4) the three WC STACs produce income. Without any one of the four we would be history. With the additional STACs we are just barely keeping up with the rising costs of publishing and mailing.

The Forum is 79 years old, one of the oldest newspapers in the country - of any kind. A wonderful tradition. In that time Life, Look, Colliers and Enron have all folded.

We are still standing.